HTF REVIEW: Planet Of The Apes (1 Viewer)

[Michael_Y]

Have to agree with Tom about the inability to switch audio (and particularly subtitles) on the fly. Quite annoying. But apart from that the disc is top-notch and the video transfer possibly redefines the word pristine.
I also listened to Burton's commentary near the end and he did seem rather uncomfortable/unwilling to discuss it further or provide some explanation. What's most important is he emphatically denies that they shot alternate endings, which many would have hope to appear on the disc. He also insists that the story should stop where it did, which could suggest he won't be doing any sequels.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

While I was impressed with the technical side of this disc I must say my SO and I were disappointed with the movie.

The work that went into making the actors look and act like apes was excellent.

OTOH the plot was very flat and after the movie was over there was not one section of the movie we could recall being interesting or exciting. IMHO this is one of Burton's weakest efforts.

A big letdown after Sleepy Hollow.

 

[Coressel]

"I hated (with a passion) the fact that they mispronounced Seamus (Irish Shaemus?) during the entire movie...."

I thought that name was suppossed to be derived from the word "simian," as in "ape," not a variant on Seamus. Maybe I was reading too much into it.

I am tempeted to get this DVD, but I'm still not sure. Is there any reference at all in the extras or commentary about alternate endings or the possible meanings of the end?

 

[Jack Gilvey]

This is a very well-done DVD of a very goofy movie. The patently obvious references to the original were expected and gave me the DC's.

 

[Paul O]

I was really looking forward to Burton's vision for the remake of POTA but i came away extremely dissapointed. The first thing that struck me was how cheap the film looked, a couple of cheesy sets - and that was it. I would have given the film a much better review if it had lived up to Burtons previous efforts for groundbreaking visual style but i sure couldnt see it anywhere. The second thing i noticed was how trite the plot and setup was - Wahlberg chases his monkey in space for no discernable reason, the ship retains its power after thousands of years of disrepair - how about making an effort to make the film believable to draw the audience in? As far as packing the relese with extras - I had zero interest in watching them because the movie was so bad - no offense to anyone but i have a life - im not going to watch multiple commentaries and featurettes for a movie which most people agree is lacking - if all the effort to make extra's could have been spent on making a better film i would take that over any multi-disc extravaganza anyday.

 

[Steve_Ch]

Picked one up at BB this afternoon ($16.99) and watched the movie ONLY so far. Have not seen it in the theater release and it's been at least 20 years since I saw the original, and for the record, I thought the original was a solid B movie, that's about it.
I am not comparing this to the original, as it is really a different movie (as different as say Wyatt Earp to Clementine, even though both movies are based on the same story).
The "look" and production of the movie is first rate, but the movie itself was surprisingly weak, but at least I did not check my watch to see how long has it been going (cannot say the same about Gladiator and MI2, but those are different stories ). If you are a movie purist and will only buy good (I am not even talking great here) movie DVDs, my recommendation is take a pass on this or just rent it.
However, if you are like me, that would buy a DVD for technical reasons, I give this one a big thumbs up. I haven't get into any of the goodies yet, but the DTS track alone is worth the $16.99, it just kicks.

 

[Brian Bunn]

Of all the Burton films I have seen over the years, in my opinion this one is by far his worst film to date. I rented the DVD yesterday, watched the movie and even went through most of the extra material on disc 2. The most entertaining feature of the DVD was the "Ape School" segment, especially the "Human School For Apes" segment. Pretty funny stuff. But the movie itself just didn't do much for me. And after watching all the making of stuff and seeing all the tedious, time consuming, detailed work that went into making the masks and costumes etc., it is a shame the movie wasn't better. That is all I could think about when watching the bonus material. All that work for a overall poor film.

And that ending? They may as well have put a "To Be Continued..." line at the bottom of the screen as the film fades to credits!

But if you like the film I have to agree that the DVD presentation is outstanding.

 

[Dean DeMass]

I gave this a rent last night and I am glad I rented it. This is easily Tim Burton's worst film. The film just looked wrong. The apes looked great and I loved their uniforms, but the sets looked horrible. They looked like, well they looked like set. The story was horrid, and I didn't care for the ending, it felt "cheap". There were positives to the film. I loved Tim Roth's performance and Michael Clark Duncan's. I did like the attention to detail on how the apes moved and fought. However, how is it a tough ape gets killed by the pounding from another ape, yet the humans can constantly get pummelled and all they are left with are black eyes and scrapes? As always, Danny Elfman's music score was fantasic, especially the opening credits.
As far as the DVD goes, I didn't watch any extras because I had no interest in them since I didn't care for the film. The video was spectacular and did look very "film-like". the DTS track was very good except I experienced about 5 or 6 dropouts. I don't know if the disc was faulty or not compatible with my player, but the only DVD that has dropouts on my Onkyo is T2: Ultimate Edition.
I give the Planet of the Apes remake :star: :star: out of 5.
-Dean-

 

[Morgan Jolley]

IMHO, the best part was the interesting opening credits. The music, the visual imagery, and the strange movement of the lettering was very unique.

It was just downhill from there.

 

[Scott-C]

Ron,

Thank you for the review of this one.

I caught a few minutes of this in a relative's HT on 11/20 and went out and bought it for myself. I haven't watched the entire movie yet, but I would agree with Ron's assessment of the technical merits of this set. The menus are really fantastic, and the transfer and audio quality are really impressive.

I've never seen any of the original POTA (though now I'm considering watching that one) so I have no bias one way or the other on this film. That being said, I was intrigued by the parts I saw last week. Can't wait to watch the rest of it!

 

[Randy_M]

I LOVED this film. Saw it for the first time last night (thought I'd take a chance for $17.99 at Target).

I guess I'm one of the few that thought the first movie was pure cheese (maybe because I despise Heston, I dunno). This is admittedly a different movie, but it held my interest all the way through, unlike any of the earlier endless sequels.

I had read a lot of negative reviews, but I've never been a 'mee too' kind of guy, so here's a strong vote FOR the film.

Flame away...

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The acting was mediocre and the special effects (other than the makeup) could have been a tad better. Overall, it was a somewhat good action flick, but the ending ruined the whole thing for me. That was pretty much my only problem.

 

[Jay_Sharp]

ugh.
I just rented this last night, what an awful movie. As usual with Burton's movies (with the exception of Ed Wood)they look great, play mediocre...the guy knows atmosphere and how to get a distinct visual style, but for some reason almost all his films tend to lose steam around the last reel as if he's gotten bored with it. I've always thought Burton should have been an Art Director. Even Elfman's score felt listless and without a strong theme.
I was very interested in seeing Roth's performance as I heard he was quite good in the movie. I found Thane to be one dimensional, only capable of anger. I was also disappointed he was a chimp. It was hilarious when he had his temper tantrums, I thought I was watching an Axl Rose hotel-destroying session.
I also found it unintentionally funny that Helene Bonham Carter's makeup made her looked like Michael Jackson, which was even funnier considering Jackson carries that chimp, Bubbles, of his around everywhere. Art imitates life.
I did not buy for a second that the apes regarding the humans as the lowest tier of intelligent life on the planet, even though both races were speaking on the same level. The original played this much better with the humans not speaking at all except for Heston's character.
That being said the extras are top notch. But definetly not worth the price of the DVD.
Glad I rented this one. Wife now hates me for picking this movie and making her sit through it. Heh.

 

[Dave H]

I saw Apes in the theater on opening night and got stuck sitting in the second row of the movie theater and, obviously, couldn't really watch the movie pleasantly.

When I rented it I liked it slightly better. However, it is a pretty weak movie. Nice to rent, but I wouldn't buy it.

 

[Scott-C]

Having now watched this movie in its entirety, I must say that I really enjoyed it! I thought it was an interesting film with great special effects, and an intriguing idea. I thought the transfer was very good and the 5.1 soundtrack was engaging. The list of extras is awesome, and I really do enjoy the menu system. In fact, I liked it enough that I then went and bought the original POTA so I can check that out as well.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Matthew_S]

The one thing i learned from buying this dvd without seeing the movie first was - Never do that again!

 

[Keith M.]

After sitting through all the classic POTA movies, then watching all the POTA tv series discs, I decided to finally watch Tim Burton's POTA...
This has got to be "the" worst movie I have ever forced myself through. I enjoyed the campy tv series discs better than this movie. My SO kept making fun of me for watching all the old movies and tv series discs. Having never seen the new POTA, I thought if she watched it, she would have a better understanding of what intrigued me so much about the previous movies/series...
Well, i will never hear the end of it. I am constantly teased by her now... :frowning:
I have lost all respect for Tim Burton...